What a week!

Wow... this week has been very un-fun.  Just go ahead and skip this post if you aren't interested in hearing me whine like a four-year-old for a minute or two.

First, on Tuesday I woke up to a very unhappy puppy.  We're still not sure what happened, but apparently Lilly got into/bitten by something she was allergic to, because her entire face and body were swollen up.  I'd post pictures, but it really wasn't pretty.  

Clearly, I couldn't go to my bar review class that day, which meant I would be even more behind in my studying than I already was.  

Then, as I tried to search on my PC for our vet's number, I realized that our internet wasn't working.  Like, at all.  I spent about an hour on the phone with the AT&T customer service representative, only to have him tell me that I probably just needed a new power cord for my modem.  

So I ran up to Best Buy and bought the cord the salesman suggested.  Then I ran over to Walmart and grabbed some Benadryll for Lilly.

The power cord turned the modem on, but I still wasn't getting any signal.  The Benadryll helped a lot with the swelling, but after three doses she was still itching and was clearly still very uncomfortable.  I was 0 for 2. 

So I made an appointment with AT&T for Thursday (today) and braced myself to live without internet for two days.  I realized a few hours later that no internet also meant no watching Lost on our Wii.  Ugh.

Yesterday was actually pretty great because I went to see Eclipse in IMAX!  For any other Twilight fans out there, it was GREAT!  Definitely the best movie so far.  Also, Micah took Lilly into the vet because she clearly wasn't feeling much better.  The vet gave her a steroid shot and gave us some pills.  The shot made an immediate difference, and she was doing wonderfully by yesterday afternoon when I got home from the movies. 

Today I missed my bar review course on Texas procedure because my iPhone died in the middle of the night and my alarm didn't go off.  The good news was that I got to sleep in until 9:00.  The bad news was that I didn't take Texas procedure in law school, so I really, really needed to sit through that lecture, plus I'd already missed Tuesday's lecture.  I did get up and start studying, though, so I don't feel too horribly about missing class.  Then, the AT&T guy came and fixed our internet - apparently the new power cord I bought wasn't putting out enough current, so he replaced it (for free!), and now I'm back up and running. :)

The worst part about this week was that today I realized that it was July 1st.  The worst month of my life has officially begun.  I take the bar exam on July 27, and I'm not even close to ready.  But I made myself a study schedule this afternoon, and I feel like it's doable, though the next few weeks are going to be totally miserable.

So if I'm a little slow in posting this month, forgive me.  It'll all be worth it when I can officially call myself a lawyer. :)

The Picture...

In case it wasn't glaringly obvious, I'm kind of madly in love with my husband. :)  And the other day, I discovered the 4,239,103rd reason that he's adorable.

For as long as I can remember, Micah has kept a picture of me in his bible.  I've always thought that it was a strange picture to keep there, because it's from a mission trip we went on with our youth group during the summer before my senior year in high school, and I'm dressed up like an Israelite in a blue sheet.  (I'm not really sure how blue sheet equals Israelite, but apparently that's the look we were going for at vacation bible school.)  

We weren't even together then, and it never occurred to me to ask him about it until the other night when we were reading together before we went to bed and I saw it stuck somewhere in the middle of Psalms.  

"Hey, where did you get that picture?" I asked.  "And when?"

"I got it from David," he said.  (David has been one of Micah's good friends since they were in middle school.)  "He took it while we were on the mission trip."

"And he just randomly gave you a picture of me?" I replied.

"Well, I kind of asked him for it.  And then I just put it in my bible."  And there it has stayed... for eight years. I wonder if Micah had any inkling, in that moment that he decided to keep the picture of a girl he wasn't even dating yet in such a special place, that we'd end up together.  The absolute flawlessness of God's planning never ceases to amaze me.  :)

Meal-Planning Wednesday

It's definitely a Pioneer Woman week here in the Hargrave house this week.  As I was meal planning this afternoon, I saw so many yummy recipes on her site that I just couldn't resist.  So here's what I'm making.

Wednesday:  Fancy Macaroni and Cheese.

Thursday:  Summer Stir-Fry.

Friday:  Date Night!!

Saturday:  Ranch-Style Chicken with Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes.  (I've made the Ranch-Style Chicken before, and it's delicious!)

Sunday:  Frito pie.

Monday:  Chicken Salad with chips and fresh peaches.

Tuesday:  Fettuccine Alfredo with Caesar salad and garlic bread.  (I've made this dish about every which way you can make it, so I'm interested to see whether or not I like her version better.)

Ten clues that I'm a country girl...

I'm sure that you know that I grew up in a small town.  This picture above?  It used to be my front yard.

In honor of my hometown, I'm going to give you a Jeff Foxworthy-esque, "You Might Be a Country Girl If..." kind of list.

So here we go.  Here are ten signs that I'm from the country.

1.  I go weak in the knees when I see a Chevy truck with big tires.

2.  I spent more than one Friday night watching men in cowboy hats team rope.


3.  My favorite drink is super sugary, almost syrupy sweet tea.

4.  I've been "parking"... on a four-wheeler.  (Don't worry... it was Micah, and we only kissed.) :)

5.  For me, a twenty-minute drive to the grocery store is a short trip.

6.  In the words of Alan Jackson, my first car was a pickup truck.

7.  I've been muddin' more times than I can count.

8.  My grandparents went to high school with Micah's grandparents.

9.  For fun, my friends and I used to toilet paper houses  (Maybe this isn't a "country" thing, so much as a teenager thing.)

10.  I married my high school sweetheart. :)

My guilty pleasure...

So I don't watch a lot of T.V.  I mean, apart from the hours and hours Micah and I spend watching Lost.  

But I do watch one show religiously.  And if I tell you what it is, you have to promise not to judge me.  Okay.. are you ready?  Here goes.

My name is Ryan, and I'm addicted to "The Bachelorette."

Yes, I totally get that it's trashy T.V.   But isn't that part of the appeal?  I'm watching this cute girl try and wade through all the bullcrap spewing out of the mouths of these whiny, desperate men, and I'm loving it.

This week, she FINALLY kicked Casey to the curb.  I like that she's being careful in giving each guy a chance, but seriously... that guy was nuts.  If I heard him utter the words "guard" or "protect" in the same sentence with the word "heart" ONE more time, I was going to go crazy. 

In seasons past, I've had one or two guys picked out from the beginning.  This season, it's these two:

This is Roberto, and he just seems like a really, really good guy.  Plus, he's not bad to look at. :) And he and Ali seem to have really good chemistry.

And I also like this guy.

Also very cute.  And he seems smart.  AND he's sweet.

So there.  I've come out with it.  My guilty pleasure is out there for the world to see.  Are you judging me?